Daugherty: Don't expect Bengals to make changes

Mike Brown won't do anything about another underachieving effort

Jan. 6, 2014

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said that head coach Marvin Lewis (pictured here during Monday's press conference) informed him he has faith in Dalton as his guy and expects to be here a long time. / The Enquirer/Amanda Rossmann

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Heads won’t roll. Heads never do. Not in Bengaldom, where patience is both virtue and vice. Mike Brown’s patience has contributed to four playoff games in five years. And to losses in all four. It’s better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all. Unless you’re a Cincinnati Bengals fan.

If you’re thinking/hoping/praying for some sort of seismic shake-up in the next few days, forget it. Marvin Lewis will not be named general manager. Mike Zimmer won’t be the next head coach. The Bengals might draft a quarterback, but he won’t be a marquee guy. He will be Clipboard Man.

Business might not be as usual, but only because either Zimmer or Gruden could get a head coaching job elsewhere. Gruden apparently is talking with the Washington Redskins, Zimmer with the Minnesota Vikings. Zimmer would be missed, terribly. Gruden, not so much.

This is not a new postseason development. Three playoff Ls, 33 points. One TD pass in 34 possessions.

The San Diego Chargers knew on Sunday which Bengals unit to fear. They based their offensive game plan on the notion that Andy Dalton would make big mistakes. “A lot of times, teams lose the game rather than win it,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy explained. “When you make some mistakes and turn the football over and do certain things, it hurts your football team.”

In the first half, San Diego ran an offense that was right-of-Tea-Party conservative. In a one-and-done game, you don’t put a guy like Philip Rivers on a poodle’s leash – six passes, 48 yards – unless you’re convinced the other guys are going to flinch.

Dalton obliged. It’s not all his fault. Do we really need a swing pass on 3rd-and-1 in the first quarter? Isn’t that why BenJarvus Green-Ellis gets paid?

On 4th-and-3 from the Chargers 41, down 20-10 with five minutes to play, why throw a deep sideline pass to a double-teamed Marvin Jones? A field goal won’t kill you in that situation, so run some sort of pick play across the middle, where your receiver is open right in front of his QB. Get the first down.

You might look at the Dalton-Gruden combination and see lots of yards and TDs. I see an egg-laying 0-3 in Big Moments, and an offense that doesn’t look prepared. I see a roster loaded with playmakers, and no plays made. What might Ben Roethlisberger do with A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Gio Bernard, not to mention a capable and relatively stable offensive line?

All you have to do is look a few hours west to see the impact a prepared offense and a good QB can have. Andrew Luck, a year behind Dalton, led a comeback for the ages, with receivers named T.Y. Hilton, Griff Whalen, LaVon Brazill and Da’Rick Rogers. The Colts scored five touchdowns in 24 minutes. At home against an average defense, a very talented Bengals offense scored one in 60.

Public support aside, will Dalton’s teammates continue to believe in him? In Gruden?

I couldn’t tell you why a defense that took more hits than Fort Sumter continued to do well, while the offense fizzled when it mattered. Preparation/attention to detail? Expectations/demands? That’s up to the BrownTrust to figure out. The only thing that’s obvious to anyone with working eyeballs is, the offense has too much talent to play in big games the way it does, consistently.

The biggest changes this offseason won’t be initiated by the Bengals. If changes occur, they will be forced upon them. Zimmer to Minnesota, or elsewhere? Hiring defensive coaches is never ticket-selling sexy. Zimmer is too candid and upfront to schmooze a rich guy. He has been down this road before. He could be here next year. Gruden to D.C.? Washington’s GM is former Tampa GM Bruce Allen. He worked with Jay Gruden there, when Jon was the Bucs head coach.